Article April 21, 1906 Issue

Our erudite critic asserts that the teaching of Christian Science...

ALFRED FARLOW

Philadelphia (Pa.) Evening Bulletin

Our erudite critic asserts that the teaching of Christian Science concerning the unreality of evil. is not new, and offers some quotations from Marcus Aurelius, among which are the following: "Only that is evil which we choose to regard as such." "That which seems evil to the individual is good for the whole." Now, the beliefs expressed in these quotations do not indicate even a resemblance between the teaching of Marcus Aurelius and that of Mrs. Eddy, and they differ but slightly from the theories of many other ancient and modern philosophers. They lack the Principle of Christian Science and do not in reality declare the absolute non-entity of evil, but affirm that a thing is evil only because one chooses to regard it as such, and that evil is in reality a species of good. This is as far from the teaching of Christian Science as night is from day. Science affirms positively that God, good, the one infinite Mind, is the only real substance; that evil, the opposite of good, is simply a negation,—is not something, but the absence of something,—the absence of good even as darkness is the absence of light.

Many of Marcus Aurelius' statements, detached from their context and considered without reference to their premises, are almost identical with those of Christian Science, but when we come to examine their premises and to seek out their exact meaning we find that they are not in any sense akin to Christian Science. I fear that the difficulty with our critic lies not so much in her apprehension of Marcus Aurelius' teachings as in her misapprehension of Christian Science. ALFRED FARLOW.

Philadelphia (Pa.) Evening Bulletin.

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